Was The Witcher 3 Downgraded? 2013/2014 Demos vs Final Game

CD Projekt RED has recently owned up to the situation regarding The Witcher 3 downgrade subject and explained the sad truth of the nature of game development. Digital Foundry shared a video showcasing a direct comparison between the earlier builds demos of The Witcher 3, and the final game.

You can watch the video below:

The Witcher 3 underwent a massive overhaul to its core rendering technology in order to deliver on the developer’s vision for a dynamic open world.

CD Projekt RED made the mistake of presenting its vision of The Witcher 3 before it was actually functioning as an open world title.

According to the team, the studio was not aware of whether their target was feasible with the open world nature they had envisioned. The 2013 trailer was advertised as in-game material at the time, and while it was partly true that the footage was indeed running the certain assets in real-time, it was not part of a complete open world scenario.

During the Microsoft conference at E3 2014, The Witcher 3 was demonstrated running on the “Xbox One” followed by a behind closed doors demonstration on PC. CDPR eventually released the footage publicly, allowing fans to get a glimpse of the actual code.

Certain changes were made from this demo in both positive and negative ways, such as geometry, lighting and color correction. Improvements include greater draw distance, additional foliage and stronger wind simulation.

The Witcher 3 is available for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. We will bring you any new information on The Witcher 3 as soon as it becomes available. Be sure to check out our previous coverage for more information on The Witcher 3, here and here.